Government officials have been told to find change in the couch cushions to pay for Carney’s $150B defense commitment, targeting a 7.5% reduction in spend next year and scaling to 15% by 2029. While some savings could come in the form of layoffs…

… there’s some real fat to trim in non-defense expenditures, which run at nearly $90B annualized - up from $60B pre-COVID.

Without a serious effort on both fronts, expect bigger deficits going forward.